Microsoft CLIP GALLERY is a multimedia application program produced by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., for previewing, and inserting into documents, multimedia, such as clip art, pictures, sounds, video clips, and animation art (collectively referred to as “clips”). Information about clips is stored in a catalogue. The catalogue contains a small graphical representation, known as a thumbnail, of the clip, as well as information about the clip, such as the artistic style of the clip, keywords that describe the clip (or some aspect of the clip), categories to which the clip belongs, and the location of the clip. Clips in a CLIP GALLERY catalogue are organized according to type of clip (e.g., sound, video, picture, etc.). A user can also use the CLIP GALLERY program to organize clips by category or keyword. The CLIP GALLERY program can be invoked stand-alone or by another application program, such as Microsoft WORD, also produced by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. Within a category (or the entire CLIP GALLERY catalogue), a user may search by manually entering keywords.
In the past, it has been difficult to perform successive searches through a large volume of clips included in the catalogues of a CLIP GALLERY program and other similar programs. As a result of this, users often do not succeed in finding the image they need, even if that image is available in the gallery. This result is partially true because many users of such programs are not skilled at formulating complex queries. In many instances, users, even skilled users, do not know what search term(s) to apply because graphics and sounds are difficult to describe in words. As a result, a suitable search tool should be able to accommodate a user who does not know exactly what he or she is looking for, but will “know it when I see it.” Additionally, the search tool should assist a user in finding clips that match an example clip in visual style so that a document can be produced that contains graphics that are consistent in appearance. The present invention is directed to providing such a search tool.